Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Beto O’Rourke probably have bright political futures, perhaps even plausible White House aspirations, regardless of which one wins their high-profile Texas Senate race.

Around Labor Day, when polls showed onetime punk rocker O’Rourke closing in on flipping a Senate seat in the country’s largest Republican-dominated state, speculation abounded that O’Rourke could be a 2020 presidential hopeful.

Political observers have suggested an upset, or even a close loss, could catapult O’Rourke to national prominence, allowing for the same transformation from longshot to national political star that he’d already undergone in his home state.